


i still feel that rush in my veins

by aarobron



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 20:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16103519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aarobron/pseuds/aarobron
Summary: aaron and robert plan their wedding, in an unconventional way.or,He’s up to his elbows in soapsuds and dirty plates, and he doesn’t know why he turns to look over his shoulder but hedoes– and that’s when he notices it.Right there, on the breakfast bar. The whiteboard no longer perfectly clean, but with black words scribbled on and small pictures stuck on by fridge magnets.Aaron abandons the washing up and dries his hands on a discarded tea towel as he approaches the breakfast bar, squinting to read the words. It’s all Robert’s neat handwriting, small and blocky, but he can’t work it out until he gets closer.





	i still feel that rush in my veins

**Author's Note:**

> for sophie, [dingletragedy](http://dingletragedy.tumblr.com/). i started writing this a while ago, but then big bang took over my life so it was abandoned. but, as it's been a full year (and two days) since we met, i finished it, just for you.
> 
> based off [this](http://dingletragedy.tumblr.com/post/176554734797/a-look-into-robert-and-aarons-wedding-planner) and [this](http://dingletragedy.tumblr.com/post/176561708657/a-look-into-robert-and-aarons-wedding-planner-pt), two wonderful edits by soph.
> 
> i love you! 
> 
> enjoy xo

There’s a clattering coming from the doorway, loud curses and some muttering. Then Robert appears, following the sound, trying to wrestle too many shopping bags than necessary into the flat. Aaron’s on his feet straight away (or, after one look of daggers shot at him) and he takes a hold of the bags. 

“What have you gone and done now?” He sighs, piling the bags onto the side of the sofa where Robert sits. If he does it on purpose, well – no one needs to know. “What’ve you bought?”

“Some bits for Seb,” Robert says proudly, in the voice that Aaron knows even _he_ uses when talking about the baby. The older man props a plain cardboard box against the wall, and looks at it and back at Aaron. “There was a sale on.” 

“Robert…” Aaron says lowly, looking at the box. It’s wide but not at all thick, brown and boring, but Aaron feels like it’s personally offended him. “What’s that?” 

“Well, I thought we could do with being a bit more organised,” Robert says. He’s clearly been practicing his speech on the way back from town, coming up with all the reasons to justify his purchase, and Aaron wishes he wasn’t crumbling already. “So I bought this!” 

He pulls the offending item out of the box, struggling for a minute, and then- it’s a whiteboard. Like the kind that sat in front of every school classroom, except a bit smaller. With pen holders and an eraser, and everything.

“Right,” Aaron says, putting his hands on his hips and blowing out slowly. He glances round at the kitchen, eyes flitting over every bit of wall space they have left. “Where exactly are you going to put it?” 

“Could put it on the breakfast bar you never use,” Robert grumbles, heading over there to prop it up, pride of place. He turns, when it’s up, and catches sight of Aaron’s eye roll. “That cost me a fortune, Aaron! I’ve not seen you use it once!” 

Aaron knows why; Robert cooked them breakfast, a few days after they first moved in. They’d eaten there, pressed up against each other from ankle to thigh, and then kissed their way back to bed.

As soon as Robert left, Aaron could never quite bring himself to sit there again.

“I suppose it’ll do,” he says cautiously, watching Robert as he takes slow, calculated steps back towards the sofa. There’s a wolfish grin on his face, and he glances up towards the ceiling. “Yes, we’re alone. Liv is with Gabby and you know Diane’s got Seb.” 

“That’s good,” Robert practically purrs, slipping his hands under Aaron’s t-shirt and grabbing him by the waist. He pulls him forward, plants a messy kiss on his mouth. “Because I bought _you_ some things I thought you could… model.” 

.

When Aaron wakes up the next morning, the bed is half made and the sheets are cold.

It’s not unusual, but he still feels a little put out, because he wanted nothing more than to roll over, into Robert’s arms and just- cuddle. Just for a little bit. Just to warm the early morning chill that has settled into his bones, then kiss himself awake properly.

You know, a good Sunday morning wake up.

He can hear the clattering of pots and pans downstairs, but the smell of bacon is drifting through the house, so it’s not all bad, he supposes. At least there’s a breakfast in it for him.

It takes all of his effort to roll out of bed and pull on his trackie bottoms and a threadbare t-shirt, but right now his stomach is winning over the need for more sleep.

Maybe he can have breakfast and then convince Robert to come back to bed, really make the most of the few hours they’ve got until the kids return and the whole house comes alive again.

“Morning,” Robert greets, head turned over his shoulder to look at Aaron. He pouts his mouth out, needy as ever for a kiss, and Aaron obliges, padding across the kitchen until he reaches Robert. “Sleep well?” 

“It was nice and quiet,” Aaron says, folding himself into one of the dining chairs. He rests his feet on the one opposite, ignoring the way Robert frowns, and pulls his phone out of his pocket. If Robert’s making breakfast, he’s going to milk it – he doesn’t intend to lift a finger all day. “You weren’t there when I woke up.”

He doesn’t mean for it to come out sounding so petulant, and he’s pretty sure his bottom lip is jutting out a bit, but he doesn’t mind. This is _Robert_. Robert, who needs Aaron as much as Aaron needs him. He gets it.

“You know me,” Robert says casually, but his words are brimming with something like excitement. Seriously, it’s too early for this, so Aaron turns his attention back to Instagram. “Mind never turns off.” 

“Neither does your mouth,” Aaron mutters, because he can never resist slipping in a well meaning insult. Robert slaps the back of his head, so gently it’s practically a tap, but then he places the plate down in front of him and kisses the spot he just hit. “What’s all this in aid of?” 

A full fry up. It must be bad.

“Can’t I just want to treat you?” Robert says sweetly, smiling at Aaron from across the table. He looks mildly disgusted when Aaron starts to dig in, watching in fascination as he cuts up his own food elegantly. Aaron doesn’t see the point; it all goes to the same place anyway. “My soon to be husband.” 

“Jesus,” Aaron says through a full mouth, swallowing when Robert’s face turns from mild disgust to something stronger. “What are you after?”

“Nothing!” Robert protests, pausing to take a sip of his coffee. He’s the one looking petulant now, and he’s actually _physically_ pouting, hand curling around Aaron’s ankle, where it’s propped up next to his thigh. “I just love you.”

Aaron rolls his eyes, but he can’t help the little thrill that sparks in his body, from the tips of his toes all the way up. He doesn’t think that’ll ever get old, even after all this time – it’s just that he spent so long dying to hear it… and now he can. All the time. Whenever he wants.

“Yeah, yeah,” Aaron says dismissively, waving his hand out aimlessly. A baked bean flies off his fork and lands in the middle of the table with a small puddle of orange sauce, and Robert cringes. “I love you too.”

It takes him ages to properly notices it.

It’s not his fault; Robert takes a hold of his wrist after breakfast and leads him to the sofa, settling down on it for that cuddle Aaron wanted. He was – admittedly, as much as it pains him – a bit desperate for it, so the minute he lays his head on Robert’s chest and feels the weight of the older man’s arm around his shoulders, all logical, coherent thoughts fly out of his head.

He just wants some alone time with his husband, alright? They don’t get that, not often, not these days. Not that Aaron would change anything about their circumstances, it just makes him appreciate these moments a little more.

They stay like that for a while, five minutes, ten, until every single second rolls into the next and it feels like Aaron could stay here forever – in his pyjamas on a chilly Sunday morning, trading short, soft kisses with the man he loves in the home they’re building together.

He gets lost in it for a while, cheeks flushed and eyes closed.

“Aaron,” Robert says gently, a hand on his shoulder guiding him back. He looks apologetic but just as dazed as Aaron, hair messy and eyes bright. “I need to go pick up Seb.”

Aaron’s pretty sure he whimpers when Robert extracts himself from their little nest, but he rolls into the warm spot the older man left anyway. If anything, he can at least get another ten minutes sleep before the madness starts.

But that doesn’t happen. Robert slams the door loudly on the way out, making the walls rattle slightly – he probably did it on purpose, dick – and Aaron snap out of his light dozing.

Well. That’s that, then. No getting back to sleep now, so he rolls off the sofa and onto his feet, stretching his arms above his head. There’s a pile of dishes in the sink, because Robert cooks but refuses to clean after himself, and he wrinkles his nose, knowing he needs to make a start on it.

He’s up to his elbows in soapsuds and dirty plates, and he doesn’t know why he turns to look over his shoulder but he _does_ – and that’s when he notices it.

Right there, on the breakfast bar. The whiteboard no longer perfectly clean, but with black words scribbled on and small pictures stuck on by fridge magnets.

Aaron abandons the washing up and dries his hands on a discarded tea towel as he approaches the breakfast bar, squinting to read the words. It’s all Robert’s neat handwriting, small and blocky, but he can’t work it out until he gets closer.

**suits – navy? maroon?**

**FLOWERS???**

**♥︎ liv + vic - best women ♥︎**

**SEB**

It’s… wedding plans, Aaron thinks. No, he knows it is, because the pictures along the bottom are taken right from Robert’s Pinterest board – the one he thinks is secret – and stuck on with the letter magnets from the fridge, that spell out L O V E.

It fills Aaron’s heart with an overwhelming kind of joy, as he reaches out to trace his fingertips over the whiteboard. He should be cringing, should be rolling his eyes at how much of a sap Robert is, but it’s nice to see the physical manifestation of his love, sometimes.

He knows he only has a few minutes before Robert clatters through the door with Seb in his arms, so he picks up a pen – a different colour, red, so it’s obvious – and scrawls his answers under the different notes.

There. That’ll do.

Now he just has to wait for Robert to notice.

.

Robert catches him the next morning as he’s feeding Seb his breakfast, making airplane noises so the baby giggles. That’s the only way he eats – or so Aaron keeps telling himself. Mostly, he just likes to see Seb smile.

“Have you been defacing my wedding moodboard?” Robert asks expectantly, with a raised eyebrow as he sits on the other side of the table. He’s fighting back a grin as he waits for Aaron’s answer. 

“Just changing your mistakes,” Aaron says casually, not looking up from where he’s feeding Seb. He still hears Robert huff, though, can feel the offence rolling off him. “I mean – maroon suits for a wedding? No thanks.” 

“Well we’re not having black,” Robert says quickly. When Aaron glances over to the board, he can see that Robert has crossed his suggestion out, writing **it’s not a funeral!!!** , and underlining it several times. “So I guess it’s blue, then.”

Aaron looks up at Robert, unable to stop the smile that’s spreading across his face. There’s a feeling in his veins, like helium making him want to float up and away, but Robert’s answering shocked grin is enough to keep him grounded.

“Did we…” Aaron starts, then pauses to clear his throat. He feels a little in awe – giddy, even. “Did we just plan our first thing for the wedding?” 

“Yeah,” Robert says, a little uncertainly. His eyes are shining with tears, and he stretches his arm across the table, to tangle his fingers with Aaron’s. “Yeah, I think we did.” 

The feel of it is dizzying. It’s finally happening, they’re getting closer – to the day when Aaron marries the love of his life; properly, legally, _actually_. 

Sure, they might have done it all a little backwards, but the point is: they’re here now. They made it to the end, to the place where they can finally spend their rest of their lives together, happy. With their little patchwork family, who Aaron loves more than anything.

And when he looks across the table and locks eyes with Robert, he knows that the older man can see the exact same thing.

A happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @ [aarobron](http://aarobron.tumblr.com/) xo


End file.
